This invention relates to cab units for use with tractor-trailer rigs and the like.
Tractor-trailer rigs used for long-distance hauling of goods have become commonplace on the road today. Almost all of the tractor-truck cabs of these rigs are tailored to accommodate two or more occupants, including a driver and at least one passenger, seated side-by-side in a front portion of the cab. However, many drivers are solo-operators who primarily travel alone. As a result, the passenger seating often remains substantially unused.
As a result of the long hours required and the mobile nature of truck driving, a truck driver often uses the tractor-truck cab for multiple tasks. For instance, many drivers utilize their tractor-truck cab for sleeping quarters and for performing job functions other than driving. More elaborate tractor-truck cabs, such as sleeping cabs, have been provided with various built-in accessory structures rearward of the front portion of the cab (i.e., behind the front driver and passenger seats) such as a sleeping bunk or a shelf for supporting a mattress, cabinets for storing articles and clothes, and receptacles for appliances, such as refrigerators and cooling devices. Despite these many amenities, a tractor-truck cab is often a difficult location to efficiently perform functions other than driving, including but not limited to administrative tasks like electronic and wireless communications, computer work, and document filing and storage. The difficulties associated with performing such functions in existing tractor-truck cabs include the limited space available, the limited seating and ergonomic arrangements, the limited amenities for connecting and/or mounting the necessary equipment, and the security concerns with locating such equipment in the tractor-truck cab.
In the past, mobile office provisions have been available in other types of vehicles such as vans where space rearward of the front driver and passenger seats is more plentiful. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 5,137,321 to Landry et al. shows a van conversion for converting the cargo space rearward of the front driver and passenger seats of a cargo van into a mobile office. The mobile office includes an L-shaped desk with mounts for a computer and a fax machine, filing cabinets that can be accessed through the rear doors of the cargo van, and a pivoting desk seat all mounted in the open floor area rearward of front driver and passenger seats. However, tractor-truck cabs do not usually include the rear doors available with most cargo vans, so the rear filing cabinets would be inaccessible. In addition, the mobile office conversion disclosed by Landry et al. has the disadvantage of not including any provisions for a sleeping area, which is desirable in a tractor-truck cab.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,106,141 to Mostashari also shows a van-type vehicle that has been converted into a mobile office complete with a collapsible desk and a desk chair provided rearward of the front driver and passenger seats. This mobile office also includes a roll-up bed mounted along the top rear corner of the vehicle. In order to extend the roll-up bed, the desk must be collapsed and rotated out of the way and the desk chair must be rotated a certain way in order to allow space for the extending the roll-up bed. This has the disadvantages of making the desk and desk chair inaccessible while the bed is extended, requiring a reconfiguration of the vehicle space each time it is desired to alternately take advantage of the sleeping-related features or the office-related features, and not allowing for the sleeping-related features and office-related features to be accessible simultaneously. In addition, a tractor-trailer truck cab may not be long enough for a roll-up bed to extend back-to-front as can be done in the space available in a van type vehicle.
Thus, a need exists for a tractor-truck cab in which administrative functions can be conveniently and comfortably performed in the limited space available without eliminating other desirable features, such as sleeping quarters and the like, and without requiring reconfiguring the cab area each time it is converted from an office configuration to a sleeping configuration and back.
In view of these and other shortcomings, it is an object of this invention to provide an improved tractor-truck cab for a tractor-trailer rig.
It is another object of this invention to provide a tractor-truck cab wherein a workspace is provided. In one aspect of the invention, the workspace has been provided in the front passenger area of a tractor-truck cab, thereby utilizing a portion of the space in the tractor-truck cab that otherwise often remains substantially unused. In this way, an office space can be provided in a tractor-truck cab without affecting cab features, such as sleeping quarters, that are provided rearward of the front portion of the tractor-truck cab. Thus, in accordance with at least one aspect of the present invention, a workspace and sleeping quarters can coexist in a tractor-truck cab without the need for reconfiguring the cab area to convert from an office configuration to a sleeping configuration as required in prior mobile offices as discussed above.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a tractor-truck cab wherein a single seat can be positioned at either one of a driving position and a workspace position.
These and other objects of the invention are accomplished by providing a tractor-truck cab comprising a driving position, at which the tractor-truck can be operated, and a workstation position, at which tasks can be performed, wherein the workstation position has a work-surface platform associated therewith. A seat-supporting track is provided which extends between the driving position and the workstation position. A seat is mounted on the seat-supporting track for movement therealong between the driving position and the workstation position. Thus, the space typically reserved for often-unnecessary passenger seating is utilized to provide a workstation, allowing for comfortable and efficient performance of administrative tasks.
In one embodiment of the present invention, the work-surface platform has one edge extending along a portion of a forward wall of the cab, and another edge extending along a portion of a passenger-side wall of the cab. In order to allow for increased visibility for a driver while operating the tractor-truck cab, the work-surface platform is preferably provided below the windows of the cab.
A further embodiment of the present invention can also be provided with office equipment, including a computer, monitor, printer, scanner, fax machine, telephone and the like. Preferably, a computer keyboard can be fixed to an upper edge of the work-surface platform. Also, it is preferable to provide a computer monitor below the work-surface platform to allow for increased visibility for a driver while operating the tractor-truck cab. A window can also be provided in the work-surface platform to allow for viewing of the computer monitor when it is located below the work-surface platform.
A still further embodiment of the present invention can also include a filing cabinet, preferably located below the work-surface platform to allow for convenient access from the workstation position.
Yet another embodiment of the present invention can include a privacy curtain slidably fixed to a curtain track, such that the curtain can be extended therealong for covering some or all of the tractor-truck windows.